


Cupiditatem

by TheFinalOrder



Category: RWBY, Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 05:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13207083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFinalOrder/pseuds/TheFinalOrder
Summary: Forgo the cold of Snow, ignore your desire of the tropic wasteland, and shed your love for the place that feels like home. There you will search through Silver Eyes for what you desire most. That's what the Gospel read, but could this child really grant a wish he never desired?





	Cupiditatem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two souls, one pure, the other tainted, discuss the prospect of Love, one realizing the impossibility of it, the other laughing in its face. Both know, love is not their goal.

**So, welcome! I finally got an AO3 account, and I'm excited to share this fic! I hope you do enjoy this, as this is my first long fic that I'm dedicated to finish. Any advice along the way would be greatly appreciated!**

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******Edit: Well, I screwed up a lot this chapter. Thinking of getting a Beta Tester, but unsure if they're reliable.**

** Edit 2: Forgot to mention. I generally respond to all reviews, even negative ones, at the bottom of the chapter. I do this because for me, a review, even negative, is something people took time out if their day to write. I should appreciate that. **

**EDIT 3: Extremely Important. There are no definitive Pairings for this yet. Ignore the guy down in the AN going on about pairings. This story focuses mainly on... story.**

**EDIT 4- good god so many edits. I have to do this one though. I thank my Beta from over on Reddit Mayazra! This has been a great help! Can't thank you enough man!**

* * *

 

The light of the moon tickled her face, softly brushing her soft skin a illuminating glow. Her pale complexion reflected the light, casting the area around her in a transcendent luminescence. Slowly, almost like she was being called, her eyes fluttered open.

With glazed eyes, her vision slowly came to her. Rubbing away the drowsiness, she gazed around the room, taking in her surroundings. The light from the window making the otherwise dark room seeable. Across the room, a mop of Blonde hair laid sprawled across the bed, and as if reflecting her hair, her body was twisted in a awkward position. Drool pooled heavily as great gasps of air escaped her mouth. Directly under her, laid a more casual girl. With raven black hair, a bowtie clung to her head, in an almost secure way. Her back faced her, so she wasn't able to see her face.

Her sister, Yang Xiao Long and her friend, Blake Belledonna.

Sitting up, watched as the bed swung from side to side at the crude motion. The rope tightening, and groaning with each movement. Unmoving, she watched as the world danced in her eyes, the grogginess slowly leaving her body in dazed state. Like rusted gears, her mind slowly processed the state of her body, before kicking her into gear.

Dropping down from her bed, she wobbled her way to the door. Silently, or as quietly as she could, she opened the door. Slowly, she walked backwards closing it. With that minor difficulty out of the way, she felt around the wall for while, feeling the cold wall, looking for something. With a small groan, she flipped her finger, the bulb above her turning on in a illuminating bright light. Slightly blinded by the light, she couldn't help but hiss, covering her eyes.

As her eyes adjusted, she opened her eyes to a pristine white room. The white bulb outlining the already pale coating. The tiles sparkled with a shine akin to glitter, establishing the fresh cleanliness of the room.

Like a robot, her body moved on it's own, doing what it needed too. Moving to the sink, she turned the faucet on to a mixture of hot and cold, diligently washing the germs off her fingers and palms. Rinse, cycle, repeat. Turning the water off, she caught a glimpse of her disheveled state reflecting in the mirror.

Her hair, as black as night with crimson tips, gravitated upwards, almost as if a puppeteer had connected strings above her head, conducting a play with her hair. Her pale skin resembled that of a sickly child, a obvious sign that she was unaccustomed to outdoor festivities. Dark bags hung under her eyes, displaying the lack of sleep she must have had lately. A deep sneer marred her face, causing her to look more and more like a addict.

This was Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY and younger sister of Yang Xiao Long. Usually, you wouldn't see this sort of expression on the young Rose, having been the most upbeat and innocent of the group, but having been woken up in the middle of the night, even the most cheerful of people would feel somewhat irritated.

This wasn't the only time she had been woken up in the middle of the night either. Just the night before, her sister thought it would be funny to wake everyone up with a blow horn. While Ruby could appreciate that if she were in on it, it would have made her laugh too. The problem was however, she wasn't, so she awoke very irritated. Even the night prior to that Weiss had stayed up all night doing her homework… again. The night before that, Blake had stayed up late into the night giggling at her smut. And a few days before that? Team RWBY along with Team JNPR had been forced on Guard Duty because they had a good fight in the cafeteria.

Ruby's eyes squinted and her sneer widened at the thought of that. It had been a horrible night for an otherwise fun day. In fact, that night would have been a ton more fun if everybody hadn't been split up into different districts of the Academy. The worst part about that was that Ruby had been placed in a field, all alone, with nobody to talk to. Yang had been lucky being placed near the CCT Tower, having guards to talk to whenever she pleased. It brought out a form of envy that only a sibling could bring out.

Ruby couldn't bring herself to be mad at anyone though. The food fight had been a blast, easily the most fun activity she ever had a hand in, and it wasn't anyone else's fault for where she was placed. Getting mad at her friends would have been dumb.

Goodwitch on the other hand…

A sudden noise brought her out of her train of thought. A low grumble, built up slowly into a silent rumble. Patting her stomach, she silently stared at her gut. Her sneer disappeared as a blank expression took over.

"I'm hungry." Ruby whispered to herself. Turning to the door, she turned off the lights with haste. Quite the opposite of her quick retreat, Ruby opened the door with a snails pace. Making her way to the door leading out of her room, she stopped herself. Checking her pockets, she felt her scroll in her pocket. That would have been the only way for her to get back into the room without waking anybody up.

Leaving the room was a simple task. Open the door, go through the door, close the door. A simple process. Well, if the dang door didn't creak all the dang time. With a grimace, she slowly opened the door, annoyed by how the creaking seemed to only increase in noise as it opened. As soon as it was wide enough for her to squeeze herself through, she did so with ease. While she did have issues with her small stature, it did come in handy at times. Most of those times being when she needed to fit in small places.

Ruby made a mental note to talk to Jaune about fixing the hinge of the doors. He always seemed to know what to do about home appliances.

Walking through the corridor, Ruby couldn't help but feel a little put off. While the halls were usually this empty during the day, it was never this dark. While Ruby wouldn't admit it, she was still deathly afraid of the dark. She even thought of skipping her midnight snack in favor of avoiding the dark, but thought against it as she was almost to the Kitchen anyways.

Beacon Academy, by all modern standards, was a high class college. As with any high class college, it came with its own dorms and facilities that students and staff alike can use in whatever manner they wished. Within each dorm level, there was a Recreational area that contained couches, a TV and, of course, a kitchen. While some dorm rooms held a personal fridge, that was usually funded by those who resided within those rooms.

As the light from the entryway to the 'Living Room' came into view, Ruby couldn't help but walk a little faster. Moon light filtered through the opening, almost as if it was calling to her. A comfort that couldn't be described by mere words.

Swinging herself into the living room, Ruby did a quick look around the room. In the middle of room laid a brown sofa, allowing for at least four to sit with having enough room to move around. A one seat chair that could fit at least two if they tried. Both comfort appliances faced a table with a hologram TV on it. A wide array of cases of different Movies and Shows for everyone to enjoy if they pleased.

Ignoring those, she made her way into the Kitchen, the cold tiles sending a chill through her body. Making her way to the fridge, she spotted… nothing satisfying. Closing the fridge, she looked through the cupboards. The only thing that was of any interest was the box of cereal that Pyrrha was sponsoring, and if she remembered correctly Pyrrha had said it wasn't that healthy to eat. That made her hesitate a little… well, mostly because it was Jaune's. With another rumble from her stomach, she forgone her care about Jaune's property. If he found out, she would pay him back.

Grabbing the box, she closed the cupboard. Opening another, Ruby stood on her tiptoes to grab a bowl. With a grunt, she was able to get a medium sized bowl, enough to temporarily fill her stomach. Opening the fridge, she grabbed the milk and poured the beverage in the bowl. Grabbing the cereal, she poured the breakfast onto the milk.

Ruby froze.

"Why did I do that backwards?" Ruby asked herself out loud. Shaking her head, she put away the milk and Cereal. Opening a drawer, she grabbed a thin spoon, as the big ones felt uncomfortable in her grip. Placing it in the food, she grabbed the bowl and turned to the table in the middle of the kitchen.

Ruby almost dropped the food in fright.

Sitting at the table, her hands supporting her head, was Pyrrha Nikos. A small smile graced her lips as she watched Ruby fumble with her food, doing her best not to drop the snack she had made. Within thirty seconds, Ruby had gotten herself under control. Letting out a deep sigh of relief, the dark haired girl placed the food on the table and took a seat.

"Good Morning Pyrrha." Ruby greeted, taking a bite out of her breakfast. Pyrrha watched Ruby, not responding to her. Straightening her back, she continued to smile at Ruby.

"Hello Ruby, how are you doing?" Pyrrha asked, acting like the whole situation was the most normal thing in the world. Ruby took another bite before swallowing.

"I'm not sure how I'm doing, honestly." Ruby ruffled her hair in irritation. "I haven't had a good night's sleep ever since Goodwitch made us do Guard Duty! I'm scared that it's going to mess with my sleeping schedule soon."

Pyrrha chuckled at Ruby's response, remembering the night out on Guard Duty. Luckily, she got the Park area, so a lot of the night crowd came by. While it was still cold in her outfit, it was a little bit bearable because she didn't stop moving.

"What about you? Are you having trouble sleeping?" Ruby asked, wolfing down her food. Pyrrha flinch a little at the question. Pyrrha looked away from the young Rose, looking almost as if she was in deep thought. Suddenly Pyrrha nodded, looking at Ruby with a unsure expression.

"Well, yes, but not for the same reason you are." Pyrrha admitted, looking side to side, a small blush on her face. Due to the poor lighting, Ruby couldn't see this. Pyrrha was thankful for this small fact.

"Is it the boys snoring? Cause Yang snores a lot!" Ruby joked, getting a smile from Pyrrha. It was obvious that the two sisters got along well, better than most sibling even. So with that knowledge in hand, Pyrrha deduced that it was a joke, with no deeper meaning.

"No, it isn't like that." Pyrrha said, rubbing her chin in thought. She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly before settling her lips in a firm line. Letting out a tired sigh, she looked Ruby in the eyes. "Ruby, do you… think you could give me some advice?"

"Hm? Uh, sure?" Ruby responded, unsure. While she didn't mind giving advice, the best she had ever given was a series of 'Nope' to Jaune. Apparently that had worked out fine, so maybe she was good at giving advice… maybe?

"Well, it's about a friend," Pyrrha started, with Ruby paying rapt attention. "Well, I'm not sure if I should just call him friend. He's more like a best friend." Already Ruby could see where this is going. Boy trouble. "Well, I've been meaning to ask him something really important, but I'm a little worried that it would ruin our friendship."

"So you want to ask that special question but you're unsure because you don't wanna damage your relationship because you also like it where it is?" Ruby summed up, her tired state making her voice monotone. "I'm right, right?"

"That's correct." Pyrrha agreed, her smile wavering as she waited for Ruby's reply. Ruby herself took The time to think of a appropriate response to Pyrrha. While admittedly she wasn't good at this friendship stuff, having only started going through drama this year, she had enough experience to give proper advice for a friend.

"Actually, I don't really know what to say!" Ruby chuckled nervously. Pyrrha gave a sigh, berating herself for relying on someone else.

"It's fine Ruby. I will find a way to deal with these feelings." Pyrrha said, getting up to go to her room. She didn't see a reason to still be there. "I'm going to go to bed now. Thank you Ruby. Goodnight."

"W-wait!" Ruby said urgently, not willing to let this topic go without a satisfactory conclusion. Taking a deep breath, Ruby just went with the first thing on her mind. "If I had someone I liked, I would do my best to let him know. I mean, I'd probably be too nervous to tell him directly, but maybe trying to give him gifts and getting closer to him will help? I'm not really sure how I would do it, honestly."

"It's fine Ruby. I'll try to the gift idea though. I'm sure he would appreciate it." Pyrrha said as she walked away. Turning, she gave Ruby a wave goodbye. "Goodnight! And Thank You!"

With that, Pyrrha disappeared from sight. Staring at the empty space the Pyrrha once resided in, Ruby couldn't help but beat herself over that poor excuse of advice. 'Give him gifts and drop hints? Like she hadn't thought of that already!' Ruby thought as she started frantically eating her cereal, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Leaning back, she gave a loud burp. It may have come off as rude, or unfeminine as Weiss would have lectured her on about if she was here, but Ruby couldn't bring herself to honestly care. Of course, if she was in public she would have at least covered her mouth. Ruby wasn't Nora, and did feel embarrassed at certain actions like that.

As she sat in that moonlit room, Ruby couldn't help but ponder on Pyrrha's words. What exactly is love? Was it an extension of liking or admiration for someone that would eventually develop into a monad of emotions indescribable by man? A series of feelings that build up in time, bringing one to want to cherish one more than another? Or was it just a feeling more powerful than friendship, yet the same?

'Am I in love?' Ruby thought to herself, thinking back on the feelings she felt towards the people she knew. 'Well, I love Dad and Yang, but that's sort of a must. I also love Mom, and Uncle Qrow, and everyone on team JNPR! I love Blake, and Weis-…'

"Pfffft!" Ruby covered her mouth, trying to keep in her laughter at the image of her and Weiss cuddling together entered her mind. While Ruby wasn't against cuddling next to Weiss or anybody else she knew, it just looked like a strange sight. Ruby knew that Weiss would have stabbed her at least thirty times for the one second Ruby hugged her during her sleep. "Yeah, that's what besties are for!"

Getting up, Ruby set about cleaning up her mess. Using a mixture of soap and water, she set about making it cleaner than before. A total of three minutes passed, as the clean freak mentality that her father ingrained in her took over. After she was done, she set the bowl and spoon on the rack to dry off.

Walking back to the room was an easier task than it was leaving it, as her eyes had now adjusted to the darkness.

Throughout the walk, Ruby couldn't get her mind off that word- Love. What drove someone to love another? Why did Pyrrha love someone more than the rest? What made them so special that she would want to spend more time with them than everyone else? It just didn't make any sense, shouldn't you love everyone? If you did you would have so many more friends than you already have!

'Wait, who does Pyrrha like anyways?' Ruby thought to herself as she neared the door to her dorm. 'Bah! I don't think it's anybody important!' She stopped in front of her door, sneering at it. 'I need to remember to ask Jaune to fix this dang door! I'm sure he'll be free tomorrow, so first thing in the morning!'

Giving a great sigh, she took out her scroll and held it on front of the keycard. With two beeps, Ruby grabbed the knob, turned and walked forward.

*Smack*

"Ow! W-what?" Ruby questioned, rubbing her sore nose. Turning the knob and pushing, she ran into the same problem as before. The door refused to budge. Her eyes widening, she ran the scroll through the scanner again, waited for the two beeps, and tried opening the door again. Ruby was met with the same answer as before. "What the heck!?"

Freaking out, she looked at the scanner as if it held all the answers. What was wrong? Looking at her scroll, she tr…

"What is this?" Ruby asked, staring at her scroll. Well, what was supposed to be her scroll. Instead, in the palm of her hand, was a green pickle. The pickle seemed to be in good condition, as if it was sitting in a jar.

Ruby stared at it with the most static expression she could give. Why was there a pickle in her pocket? Why, of all the times, was there a pickle in her pocket? This ripe, green vegetable had been in her pocket while she slept… why?

In a sudden burst of energy, she felt around her pockets, trying to find her scroll. Feeling something stiff in her right pocket, she reached down eagerly, grasping on the material in her clothing. With a rough tug, she whipped out whatever was in her pocket.

A piece of paper?

Slowly, Ruby unfolded the piece of paper, praying that this might help her. One, two, three, and four. After the forth fold, she was presented with a blank piece of paper. Flipping it over, Ruby spotted some writing on it.

"Quite a pickle you're in, huh?"

With a sudden unknown burst of strength, Ruby threw the pickle to the ground.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY YANG!"

* * *

 

A shiver ran down his spine as he continued his walk back to camp. With a sudden lurch, he let out a powerful sneeze causing him to fumble with the firewood in his arms. With a groan, he wiped his face off on his shoulder. The night had been rough on the young traveler, and he would have preferred if he didn't have a sudden sneezing fit.

As the campsite came into view, he gave a sigh of relief. The journey back had been long and painful, as most of the wood had turned out to be wet, which wouldn't work for the fire. Sometimes, he wished he had a more elemental type power, like fire or wind, to keep campfires going. Thinking of that, it made him a little jealous of his companions that came along with him. Half of them had the flame based magic, which made it more depressing when he was only able to debuff others.

As he made his way out of the shrubbery, he was greeted with the sight of around twenty or so men and woman, all spread out around the campfire, sleeping soundly without a care in the world. He knew that that wasn't the case however. If he was a more open person, he would have sneered in disgust. He didn't know any if any of the disciples had any personality to speak of, but he understood that their masters were the self made portrait of selfish and egotistical behavior.

It was a miracle that he was able to stand being around others.

"Sir Pride!" A voice spoke up as a shadowed figure knelt in front of him. His face shrouded by the uniform they all wore. He faced his head towards the ground, his shoulders visibly shaking in fear. No doubt he believed he was going to be punished for something. "I am sorry I am so useless, Sir! If I had been able to use Fire based powers, I would have been able to keep the fire going without the need for you, Sir, to fetch us firewood!"

Ah, that.

With a sigh, he furrowed his eyebrows in irritation. Everyday, almost every hour, there was another person who apologized for the dumbest of things. From walking through mud, confronting a Grimm, to even bathroom breaks. It had been getting annoying. Well, that would have been seen as reasonable from a certain point of view actually. Prides small group, which were taking a break, had suddenly came into contact of one of Lusts searching parties. Apparently she needed to send a few of her soldiers to him and Greed's group for something or other.

'What did you do to these men, Lust?'

"It's fine." Pride said reassuringly. Walking past the shell-shocked grunt, he continued to set the firewood next to the campfire. Tossing a log into the fire, he took a seat on a cut down tree, tending to the fire. "I'm not going to beat you, Like Sloth. I'm not going to make you feel pain like Wrath. I'm not going to eat you like Gluttony. I'm also not going to chat your ear off about how Greed would. I also won't make you starve to death like Lust. I'm Pride, I don't bother hurting people who want to help but can't."

"B-But-" The grunt stuttered, not knowing what to say. When he was under Lust, he had seen men burned alive for just breathing in her direction. As she had put it, they were lesser than rats, expendable and replaceable. That they didn't even deserve to be in her presence.

"I might change my mind if you keep pestering me." Pride threatened, playing with the fire. This caused the Grunts eyes to widen. The horror stories his fellow disciples spoke of causing him to shiver.

"O-Oh! O-ok…" The grunt stuttered, standing nervously across the bonfire. He honestly didn't know how to respond to this, or if he should. He had heard horror stories of each of the Archbishops, and from the rumors, Pride was one of the more frightening ones. They never said why, but he had assumed that it was what he did to his men.

"You can sit down you know? It's going to be another hour before we switch shifts, so might as well get relaxed." Pride said, allowing the man to take a seat on the adjacent log. For this grunt, it was probably the most surreal experience he had. This Archbishop had an air of relaxation around him. He talked in a manner that made him seem almost normal, a stark difference from Sloth. It was almost… unnerving. Pride watched him out of the corner of his eyes, yet never leaving the flame that burned so bright. "I know I may be threatening, but the least you can do is chat. Prove to me that you're not another mindless drone."

The grunt flinched. How should he respond to this? With a silent nod of the head? A verbal confirmation? Maybe he should lie and act like he was normal? No, he had a feeling if he screwed up, which there was a high chance of, the Archbishop of Pride would be offended. While Pride did claim he wouldn't kill him, that could have been a lie. Maybe that's why Pride was so frightening to everyone else?

"I'll take that as a no." Pride sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I guess that would make sense, I am a frightening figure. Maybe in time you'll warm up to me. We do have three days left until we reach our next pit stop, so in that time, try your best to get along with everyone ok?"

The grunt flinched again. Why was this Archbishop so understanding? Weren't all Archbishops supposed to be the figureheads of insanity? With quirks that no normal being would be able to handle without missing some sense of reality? Why was it, if the Archbishops of the other Sins acted in this manner, was this man so different?

"Hey, where's Regulus?" Pride spoke up, looking around the campfire. "I don't see him anywhere. He usually doesn't leave without his partner."

Glancing over at Greed's partner, Pride couldn't help remember when he first met her. It was long ago, but it felt like it was just yesterday. Due to a series of events that involved a good number of powerful individuals, Greed and Pride had been cornered. Greed had brought his many wives along with him, assuming the enemy wouldn't find the secret to his power. That, in turn, backfired when one of the wives proclaimed that she held no love for Greed when urged by the enemy. This had started a series of proclamations by Greed's many wives opening their true feelings for Greed.

Never had Pride ever seen the always upbeat Greed look so hurt and defeated. All his wives, one by one, left his side and went to the enemy, cutting all connections to him, also breaking his powers. As the last one came to him, Pride had expected her to leave his side as well, but in a shocking turn of events, she hugged him.

The insane woman held the near broken man in her arms. What was once a horrible sight of betrayal, turned into one of the most romantic scenes Pride had seen. That day, while Greed lost many, he gained something worth much more than any of those wives. He received acceptance and love.

As with most worthless objects, most of those Wives ended up dead and discarded, as with their enemies.

"Sir Archbishop of Greed left to fetch firewood after you left. He wouldn't allow me to take his place, claiming that it wouldn't be selfless." The grunt responded, remembering the conversation he and Greed had. Well, conversation would have been a kind way to put it. After he had offered to get firewood in his place, Greed wouldn't stop going on and on about how selfless he was. If the grunt was honest, it gave him a headache thinking about it.

"Let me guess." Pride spoke up, grabbing his attention. A small smile adored Prides face. "As soon as I left, he made a troubled face, got up in a hurry, claimed that he needed to help while giving a long winded speech. After you offered to help, he gave a speech about being selfless and ran off. Am I right?"

"T-That's right!" The grunt confirmed, surprised at how accurate that was. Was this a thing that accord regularly? Pride gave a soft chuckle, running a hand through his hair.

"Yep, that sounds like him. Hey, let's make a bet." Pride said, making the grunt stiffen. Bets with Archbishops were never a good sign, as lives were usually put on stake. "Don't get so stiff about it. We're not actually betting anything here. This is just s way for people from where I'm from to take guesses. It's for fun." At this, the grunt relaxed a little. A little. "As soon as Greed walks back here, he's going to act surprised, say something like 'Oh, you're back' and then go on about how he looked for firewood too. He's probably gonna have too much firewood, say something about how we should use it for other nights and request praise."

"Ah, you're back already?" A voice called out. Looking behind him, Pride spotted a man standing at a proud 5'8, decked in all white and gold, but still in the standard apparel for the Cult. His white, medium length hair laid flat on his head. His eyes a crimson red, reflecting the fire of the camp. His smile seemed plastic, but held a sort of genuine feel to it. In his arms laid a good number of logs, no doubt from his searching. "As you can see, I went ahead and searched for some firewood too. If we don't need all this tonight, we can use it for the rest of the trip. You should be grateful, Subaru, as without me you would have needed to search for more later. I believe that is deserving of praise, no?"

"Told you, predictable isn't he?" Pride joked with the grunt, ignoring Greed. Greed, in turn, walked over to the log pile and dropped the wood on top of the other.

"Who's predictable, Subaru?" Greed asked, his face twitching slightly. It was obvious he was doing his best not to say anything more. Pride assumed he must be thinking of the others sleeping, or at least his partner. That's a good thing that changed with the whole wife problem. He started caring for her in a more than a object way. "You couldn't possibly mean me, as I do enjoy the fact not everybody could predict what I'll do next."

"Sadly, you're not as unpredictable as you think, Regulus!" Pride teased, a smirk making its way onto his face. It was getting visibly harder for Regulus to not throw a tantrum. "Well, actually, you are unpredictable at times. And to most people, no one is sure what you'll say next. I guess that's one of your more interesting qualities."

"Thank you!" Regulus said, sitting next to Pride. Greed crossed his legs and arms, a position he normally took when sitting down.

"I said one of your more interesting qualities, but honestly that's about it." Pride said, chuckling at the struggling look on Greed's face. It wasn't everyday that you got to see a Archbishop visibly struggle with something, so Subaru enjoyed this moment.

"You should be more grateful, Subaru!" Greed declared; shrugging his arms. "If it wasn't for me, you would have died long ago! I still remember the day you came running to me begging for my help, and when I saw the pitiful sight I couldn't turn you down! We fought through thick and thin that day!"

"Yeah, I am grateful for that." Pride admitted, tending to the flames. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably have been stuck there for awhile." Pride smirked at Greed. "But ever since then all you been doing us following my lead! You're like a baby duck following its mom everywhere!"

"Oof!" Greed's cheeks went red as he pouted, crossing his arms in displeasure. As Pride went on teasing him, the Grunt couldn't help but stare in amazement. He had heard Rumors that it was difficult to talk to the Archbishop of Greed. Not only because of his long winded speeches, but also the fact if you stopped listening to him you generally get killed. That looked like the exact opposite right here though.

While Greed was still indeed giving long speeches, it wasn't to the extent he did with Grunt. Greed also still talked about how grateful people should be around him, but Pride seemed to counter that with how useless his deeds truly were. The fact that Greed also didn't get angry either was amazing in itself. It was like two friends, chatting to each other and teasing the other.

Was this why Pride was so feared in the Church? Why everyone said such rude and detestable things behind his back? Was it because, no matter who it was, Pride seemed to get along with others(1)?

"Hey, I gotta ask you guys a favor." Pride spoke up, changing the subject. This caught the attention of both Greed and the Grunt, both looking st him questioningly. "I need you guys to keep this a secret from everyone else though, since this is pretty personal. K?"

"Of course, Sir Archbishop of Pride!" The Grunt nodded viciously. It wasn't like he really had a choice, seeing as he would most likely be killed if he denied this request. Archbishops don't take to kindly to refusal and failure.

"Is something the matter, Subaru?" Greed asked, curious and at the same time slightly worried about Pride. Once upon a time, this kind of worriedness was foreign to Greed, but ever since his Wives betrayed him, he had felt this need to cherish those close to him more. So seeing as Pride, the normally manipulative type, was straight up asking for a favor, that meant something serious was troubling him.

"Well, no, but not really." Pride spoke cryptically. He wasn't sure how to express this feeling other than a mild irritation or worry. "I guess I'm just a little irritated. It's hard to put it into words."

"About?" Greed asked, his shortest sentence ever being spoken. Right now, he didn't see any need to jumble sentences and phrases along with each other, as it would just waste time.

"Well, it's about my Gospel." Pride said, taking out a black book. The grunt looked in wonder at The object. The Church's gospel, which was handed out to everyone within the church, is an object that allows the user to follow a certain path that leads them to what their heart desires most. Be it fame, fortune, or even comradery, the book could lead you to that future. The only issue with this, is that the words within are always cryptic. They were never straightforward, so if someone misses their desire, then a new set of cryptic messages would appear. As Grunt stared in amazement at the object, he couldn't help but compare it to his own. At first glance, both Gospels would look completely identical, but in truth it wasn't. The Archbishops Gospel had much more markings on its cover, making it look ceremonial on the outside. "I need help trying to understand the words within my Gospel."

Both Greed and The Grunt looked at Pride in shock. Out of all the things that Pride could have requested, that was the last thing they could possibly think that an Archbishop would ask. There was an unspoken rule within the Church, one which even the Archbishops, _ESPECIALLY_ the Archbishops, held in tandem with their orders. It was the rule to never speak of the words within your Gospel. It was fine to talk about what your goals were, but to directly read aloud the words within the Gospel was a grievous sin. For one of the Six Archbishops to willingly speak of their Gospel was an honor to hear, yet a blasphemous sin to commit at the same time.

"Sir Pride! You can't possibly mean to speak the words within your Gospel, do you!?" Grunt objected, standing up. At Prides nod, the grunt seemed to shrink back in shock. "Why would you do such a heinous thing!? Isn't this against tradition to speak such words!?"

"Well, I guess, but I don't really care about tradition." Pride announced, staring at his book. "I mean, it's just a tradition that could be broken in a snap of my fingers. If there is no punishment for talking about my book of my free will, then I see no reason I shouldn't ask for the help of others. Also the fact that it would be to my benefit would be a great help, wouldn't it?"

"B-But-" The grunt stuttered, trying to find a reason that would be sensible to uphold this rule. No matter how much he thought though, his mind could only come up with the excuse that it was tradition. There was no other reason that could possibly change the Archbishops mind on this. He could only leave this in Greed's hands now.

"Exactly, Subaru." Greed spoke, failing all expectations of the Grunt. Staring at Greed like he grew a third head, the Archbishop continued with his speech. "It is just a tradition, and no one is forcing us to keep our mouths quiet on such a matter. If it is able to get us closer to our goal, shouldn't we take full advantage of this to further strive to the future we seek? What's so sinful of that?"

"Hahaha!" Pride started laughing, his face the prime example of happiness. Putting his hand on Greed's shoulder, he continued to laugh softly. "I knew I can count on you, Regulus! You never fail me!"

"Hahaha!" Greed laughed in turn, his face mirroring Prides. Greed put his hand on Prides shoulder, both laughing in sync. "You can always rely on me Subaru! You are my best friend, I could never allow you to suffer alone!"

"Oh stop it!" Pride said, acting sheepishly. Putting his free hand on his cheek, he looked away. "You can't possibly mean that."

"Subaru." Greed spoke, his voice deeper, putting his hand on Subaru's cheek, pushing his face so he was looking at his own. They stared each other in the eyes for what felt like an eternity, before Greed smiled charmingly. "Why would I ever lie about that. We are friends to the end."

"I agree." Subaru said, pulling away from Greed's touch, his hands fiddling with his Gospel. A look of embarrassment flashed across his face, that the grunt almost assumed was his imagination. "We aren't lovers though, so let's stop acting like this, please."

"Of course!" Greed agreed, giving a shrug. "I am unsure why you allowed that to go on longer than it needed too. By the time I tell you to rely on me, you usually smack away my hand. Perhaps you were putting on a show for our guest?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Pride said sighing.

The grunt looked between the two. This was the most intimate he had seen any of the Archbishops be towards each other. Why were these two on such a great relationship? Shouldn't they have hated each others guts?

"Anyways, let's try to find out this riddle before everyone wakes up." Pride spoke as he opened his Gospel. The grunt aimed to stop him, but the look Greed gave him shut him up. "Lets see here… found it! Alright, well, this is what it reads- 'Forgo the cold of snow, ignore your desire of the tropic wasteland, and shed your love for the place that feels like home. There you will search through silver eyes for what you most desire.'"

"Hmm. That actually sounds pretty straightforward." Greed summed up, grasping on to each word. At first it may have sounded like a riddle, but in reality it was more like directions. "Have you thought of anything that makes sense?"

"Yeah, actually." Pride said, putting the Gospel back into his in his cloak, he put on a thoughtful expression. "What I can understand from this is that it was basically telling me where to go. At first, I thought they were talking about the World Above, but then I realized that this should have been taken more literally. When it spoke of Forgoing the cold, they were talking about Atlas, not Gusteko. When they spoke of the desire of the tropic wasteland, it obviously meant Vacuo. Lastly, the place that feels like home. That sounds a lot like Kararagi, but if we think of the other two locations, it must be Mistral. So, taking all this into account, I was left with two areas to travel to. One, Lugnica, second, Vale. I chose Vale first because that seemed the most reasonable solution. Also the last time we tried going back to the World Above, half of us died trying to break through security."

"It seems like you have most of this already figured out, Subaru." Greed said, scratching his head. "I'm not sure what you need help with then, seeing as you pieced together the puzzle so well."

"Well, yeah, I got the directions down, but it's the last part I'm having trouble with." Pride spoke, scratching the back of his neck. "It says 'Through silver eyes you will find what you most desire.' Thing is, is that I already have what I desire. I have you, the Church and that assassin group. Last I heard, Elsa has been doing pretty well, and there doesn't seem to be any major threat coming after us, so I don't see a need to change."

No one spoke after this, for no one knew what to say. The Archbishop of Pride was a seat held for only the most prideful of beings, so it would be in the realm of reason that he would have believed he had already done everything in this life that there was to do. In his eyes, he didn't need much else in his life, so why go through the bother of attaining what the gospel claimed you wanted.

"Maybe you're wrong about this, Subaru?" Greed spoke, throwing out an idea of his. "What if you have just convinced yourself you have everything you want, but in reality you have just tricked yourself into believing such things? That your goal was so far for you that if you had not done so, you would fall in despair?"

"That's an interesting idea, but I don't think that that's so." Pride said, shrugging. "Besides, what could I possibly want?"

"Maybe it has to do with the silver eyes?" Greed offered, summing up his idea. "You already have the best friend, myself, and company of companions, but what about love? From what I see, you lack female companionship the most in your life. While females of our Church indeed admire you, they fear getting too close due to your position. What if these 'Silver Eye's' will lead you to salvation?"

"Oh, be quiet!" Pride said jokingly. "The more you talk, the more you sound like Betelgeuse, and we all had enough of that love struck freak."

"I do not enjoy the idea of being compared to that devoted freak." Greed said, disgusted at the thought. While it was true that both Greed and Sloth were members of the same Church, one was completely insane and the other slightly normal. It was also true both of them were monsters, but it depended on your point of view. While Sloth went out of his way to kill everyone of his targets and neighboring towns, Greed only went for his targets and those that attacked him. Like that one town in The Volakia Empire. While his aim was to kill the merchant who was selling Church items, the guards and some citizens just _had_ to get involved. That lead to most of the town being burned to the ground. "But I still think that it may lead to something similar. What else do you need in this world other than love? The Silver Eye's may lead you to finding your destined one, as my ex-wives lead me to mine!"(2)

"I'm telling you Regulus! I don't need something as dumb as that." Pride said, putting a log in the fire. Even though he said that, Pride couldn't help but let his mind trail at the thought of love. Why would anyone bother with such a thing? Such a base emotion caused by chemicals reacting to each other to make one care for another in a way more than a friend? It was useless, besides for the mutual agreement of reproduction. Other than that, there was no reason to love another.

"Ah?" The grunt spoke up, sounding surprised. With a sudden jolt, he stood up, a shard of ice forming in his hand. "Sir Greed, Sir Pride, watch out!"

With a smile, Greed didn't even bother to turn around, already knowing the conclusion of this encounter. With a ruffle of leaves, and a mighty roar, a black claw cleaved through him, yet he was untouched. With his eyes alone, he watched the claw head for Prides neck.

Closing his eyes, Pride cracked his right index finger. The speeding claw came to a stop, just an inch from striking his neck. Breathing in, Pride started cracking his knuckles, one by one. As he did so, the beast that dared to intrude in their conversation was sucked into the fire, its body breaking and forced to shrink by an unknown force. A cry of pain and terror escaped its throat before the unknown force pushed it's head into its body.

Within a second, the Grimm that was about to kill Greed and Pride disappeared, leaving nothing but a trail of black mist. Out of the corner of his eye, Grunt could see other Church members waking up, but he couldn't take his eyes off Pride. The cool and collected monster that tended to the campfire with a smile to his face.

It was then that Grunt realized why Pride was so terrifying. It wasn't his personality or how gruesome it was. It was something that made him different from the other Archbishops. Something that he didn't think would scare him so much.

Pride was an Enigma.

"Love, huh?" Pride thought Out loud, looking up to the starry sky. The moon broke and splintered, mixing with the stardust in the ever expansive sky.

The Archbishop of Pride, Subaru Natsuki, gave a hearty laugh at the idea.

* * *

 

1) **This Subaru is almost the same as light novel Subaru. Like after Rem died, he was willing to do anything for his goal, but didn't let it control him. This is essentially the only true difference is that he's not... well, good.**

**2) No. Just no. Again, there are no pairings set in stone. I don't think Ruby will like Subaru after some of the things he does later on. NO PAIRINGS!**

* * *

 

**Well, that was interesting. I thought up like 3 arcs while writing this. Makes me excited, but I'm trying to not let it control me, as I tend to start writing terribly when that happens, as seen in my other projects.**

**Anyways, I need to say something. I'm not sure what I'm doing hinting Ruby x Subaru/Pride. I mean, I like the idea, but I'm not sure. The reason I like it is because of how Subaru sees the world. He sees the world in a horrible light. That everyone is scheming, lying backstabbers who would do anything to get what they want. This would work great with Ruby as she's the most innocent and kind person you could think in this world. Well, besides Emilia but that's already going on in another one of my fics and he's just clinging to her because she insists. So I'm unsure if this is the main pairing, but it might be. Btw, I hate making pairing before the story, so there might be a change.**

**Edit- So again, I don't like having my stories pairings first unless that's a main plot. I personally have the pairings I want, as anyone would, but I'm brushing them to the side. These characters move by themselves, and it wouldn't be right to push them together. Like like non of the main cast are going to be forced onto Subaru, cause I hate Harems.**

**Weird how my two favorite series are Negima and Toaru Majutsu no index.**

**Besides Re:Zero and RWBY of course.**

_ Story Rant _

**Ok, I need to say something. The Cult in this world is slightly different from canon. Don't worry, they're still evil as all hell, but the difference is is that I'm putting in my theory here.**

**I think the Cult is extremely racist. Through all the attacks, it's always been shown to be none human settlements. The Oni village, and Emilia's elf village. While that's only two examples, that is enough for me to think their racist and it has to do with the Witch. It also explains why almost all the Members are human besides Wrath.**

**Do you see where I'm going here?**

**Also, I'm quite happy with the poetic writing in the beginning. I might stick with that. Thoughts,**

_Personal rant_

**Ok, as I said above, I started the RWBY x Re Zero fic originally because I was really hyped up. I also wanted a awesome story to call my own. I quit writing it because it just didn't seem right at the time. I was basically copying a whole bunch of fics and calling them my own. I didn't want that.**

**So, I took a break and practiced my writing. I'm getting better, but I have a long way to go before I am happy with my writing. After that, I scrapped the ideas for the previous fic and messed with them in my head. Originally, Subaru was slowly going to join the Cult, and Emilia was going to die. I practically spoiled it in the last fic. This fic, I started with Subaru already in the Cult, which you'll find out how as time goes on, and mixed around character backgrounds. I mostly messed with Re Zeroes group, and Pyrrha. Pyrrha has no freaking background in canon besides she's a freaking gladiator, so I need to spice this up.**

**Also, don't worry Rem fanboys. She's in this. She'll play a part in the story later. Heck, I love Emilia more, but I think I gave Rem a bigger part to play.**

**Last thing. Subaru is evil in this fic. It'll probably change. We'll see.**

**Hmm. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Meh. Well, if you like this, I would like to hear your thoughts. Especially ideas. Same with my Coexistence fic, even the simplest of ideas give me motivation. There is one guy who already gave me 2 ideas since the beginning. It's been 2 freaking chapters. 2! And one of them he wasn't even trying!**


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